What did his mum Denise Fergus say?

“I fear they will find that with him they have another Ian Brady on their hands.”

In January 2018 she told the Mail on Sunday: "There aren’t the words to describe how I still feel now, every day.

"I was the one who let go of his hand; I was the one there meant to protect him.

"But do you know what my biggest regret is? That I didn’t turn right instead of left – if I had taken the right turn and gone around the corner, I would have seen James being led away, just four short minutes after he had left my side, trustingly holding hands with the boys who were about to murder him."

In her new book I Let Him Go published in The Mirror, Denise, 50, recalls hearing how Thompson laid flowers by the train tracks in Walton where little James’ body was found.

She writes: “Thompson lived in Walton, not far from the murder scene, with his mum and two younger brothers. The arresting officer ended up speaking to Thompson’s seven-year-old brother.

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